


Just a Face in the Crowd

by Macx



Category: Real Ghostbusters, Stingray - Fandom
Genre: Crossover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-15
Updated: 2011-07-15
Packaged: 2017-10-21 10:15:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/224068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Macx/pseuds/Macx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Christmas and Winston finds himself in a small coffee shop, taking a time out. Not only is trouble about to come visiting, he thinks he knows a face from someone he once knew in Vietnam</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just a Face in the Crowd

**Author's Note:**

> written originally in the mid-nineties.

It was a few days before Christmas and New York City's streets were bustling with shoppers, who still needed last minute presents or had had no time to shop before, or those people who really enjoyed getting pushed through crowds and nearly suffocating. Winston Zeddemore moved through the crowds, wondering if he would survive this shopping trip. Through the strenuous busts none of the four Ghostbusters had had time to do any Christmas shopping the last few weeks, maybe with the exception of Peter, who had taken Mrs. Faversham for a shopping trip a week ago. Winston suspected that he had bought most of their presents as well, judging from the large grin he had worn when returning. And also judging from the teasing Peter had hidden the presents at Mrs. Faversham's.

Winston made his way through the crowds into one of the many side streets and stopped, inhaling deeply.

"I think I'm getting too old for this kind of stress!" he sighed, then grinned. He was chasing ghosts, demons and gods day by day and now he was complaining about a little bit of Christmas shopping?

He walked down the mercifully uncrowded street, which had a few small and interesting shops. Looking around he discovered the small coffee shop he knew and decided he could use a break. He already had a present for Ray -- a leather bound book about spooks he had discovered in a small shop -- and something for Janine, but before he challenged the crowds again to get what he had found for Peter and Egon he wanted some hot coffee.

The coffee shop, called 'Ed's Cup'o'Coffee' was small and homely, having only three tables with four chairs each, and chairs lines up against the counter. It was mostly kept in light wood, with the tables covered by red-checked cloths and a bunch of pot flowers at the two large windows. Christmas music was softly playing in the background, just loud enough to notice but not too obnoxious. Winston set the two heavy bags down on one chair and then took off his coat and shawl.

"Hello, Mr. Zeddemore," a female voice said as he sat down. "How nice of you to drop by."

Winston looked up and smiled at the blonde waitress. "Hi, Angie," he greeted her. "How ya doin'? And please, call me Winston. I  
thought we had an agreement worked out last time."

She returned the smile. "Okay, Winston. It's a slow day today, but I think it's gonna be pretty busy when the shops begin to close. Lots of people come in for a quick snack or a cup of coffee." She glanced at his bags. "Shopping, huh?"

He chuckled. "We've been busy enough to keep me from such mundane things as buying a few present," he explained. "Ghosts all over the town. I still have some more shops to go, but then I'll have them all."

Angie nodded. "I've been pretty early with buying presents this year. Not much stress and lots of reasonable prices."

Winston grimaced as he remembered the particularly high prices around Christmas in some shops. As if people were expected to spend their money more easily and in larger amounts for things they usually got somewhere else much cheaper. But that was also part of the Christmas Spirit. He remembered how Egon and Ray had told him once about why Peter hated Christmas so much after the psychologist had been in one of his moods again. Peter had complained loudly that Christmas was nothing but shopping and spending money in large amounts for presents nobody needed. Winston had been kind of surprised by this outbreak of negative emotions at a time like this, but after the long talk with Egon and Ray he had understood. It wasn't Christmas as a holiday and as a shopping maniac's dream, it were the memories attached to it, which Peter never talked about much.

"What do you want to order?" Angie asked, getting him out of his reverie.

"One coffee and some pie," he answered.

"We have apple, strawberry, raspberry, chocolate, carrot and vanilla," the petite blonde said, her smile still in place.

"Okay, then I take chocolate." Winston decided he could use some calories to burn. Shopping proved to be more strenuous than ghostbusting!

"Uh, luxury," Angie teased, then disappeared to get him the ordered snack.

Winston grinned. He had met Angie some time ago when he had discovered the small coffee shop. A friend hat pointed him this way, telling him about the really good coffee and sandwiches. Since Winston had been in the neighborhood and since the coffee shop wasn't that far from Ghostbuster Central, he had taken a look. His friend had been right. Angie had been the waitress to serve him the sandwich then and she had recognized him as one of the Ghostbusters. Winston wasn't a fame-crazy like Peter, but he attention of fans as long as they didn't become rabid. Over the months he had come to the coffee shop Angie and he had become good friends, and he had even invited her to Ghostbuster Central once, telling her to bring along the kids. It had been a great day for all.

His coffee and pie arrived minutes later and he took a first sip, sighing as he felt the warmth run down his entire body. It was cold outside and it had snowed recently, but not bad enough to apprehend traffic. He looked around the coffee shop to see what other customer there were. It was one of Winston's habits, one he had never been able to shed. Only one other table was occupied. The two girls looked like tourists. Their cameras sat on the table and they were studying a map of the city, pointing at several spots and discussing their planned trip. At the counter sat another customer, a tall, dark-haired man dressed in a black shirt and black jeans. His coat lay on the chair next to him. A pair of sun glasses rested on the counter. Somehow he looked vaguely familiar, as if Winston had met him before. Something flashed up in his mind and it was the picture of a steaming jungle, filled with bugs and landmines -- Vietnam. Where did he know the man from? Where in Vietnam had he seen him. His brow furrowed in deep thought. The pictures he saw were those of jungle fights and .... something seemed to form in the back of his mind. A face, a name ....

Angie walked over to him and sat down in the chair opposite. Since there weren't any customers she had apparently decided to chat a little. "So, how's the business?" she asked, jerking him out of his thoughts.

"Busy. Christmas is always one of the worst times, don't ask me why. Egon would have some explanation ready, Ray as well, but I just count the traps." Winston grinned. "Halloween's worse, though. Good thing about busy times is that there's money coming in."

Angie chuckled. "Tell me about it. You know, the kids are still crazy about that visit last month. It was the topic of days to follow."

"Glad you liked it. Ray's still grinning when someone mentions Toby."

Toby was Angie's youngest son, who told everybody he'd become a famous Ghostbuster one day and who had questioned Ray for hours about ghostbusting, demons, ghosts and traps. Ray had patiently answered all questions and had later told Winston that Toby was a very bright young man, who knew what he was talking about.

"Yeah, Toby's a real fan of your Dr. Stantz as well."

The door to the coffee shop opened and then closed again, and a gust of cold wind brushed over Winston's legs. He shivered a bit and drank some more coffee. As he looked at Angie he noticed how stiff she sat in her chair and how pale she had suddenly gone. Her green eyes were wide with fear as she stared toward the door. Carefully, Winston turned his head.

"Okay, everybody stays where he is!"

The voice of command belonged to a man in a winter jacket and a ski mask pulled over his features. He was accompanied by another man, equally masked and dressed. Both had handguns in their hands, pointing them at the second waitress and the man behind the counter.

"Get the money out, Pop!" the first man commanded, gesturing with the weapon.

"And you get your wallets out!" the second man told all the customers.

Winston carefully took out his wallet. He was in no mood to get shot because he wanted to keep the few bucks he carried around. He had paid for the presents with his credit card.

The thug came over to Winston's table and waved the gun at them. "Give me your money, bro, now!"

Winston complied and held out the wallet to the man. He took it and simply put it into the bag he was collecting all the valuables in. Angie took off her watch and her earrings, putting them into the bag with shaking hands. As the mugger went on to another table, Winston caught an eye of the man at the bar.

The dark-clad stranger had tensed a bit, watching the men with sharp eyes. Something in the mask-like expression of his eyes gave Winston another flashback to Vietnam. He had definitely met the man there ... but where? The man had willingly given his wallet, but there was something in his posture that told Winston that he wasn't a man to comply willingly to a mugging. The man's eyes were looking inconspicuously around the counter and his hand slowly slid over to the abandoned tray of the waitress. Winston readied himself to do whatever came next for him to do.

The vague memories of the stranger turned into familiarity and though he didn't know if he could really trust and rely on the man -- his emotions said yes, he could -- he was ready.

One of the two muggers still stood near the entrance, now and then sneaking glances toward the window to check if anyone had noticed what was going on in here. The other mugger was busy collecting valuables from the two tourists, who lost their cameras, jewelry and money to him. Suddenly the door opened with a soft chime and an elderly couple came in.

That was the moment the stranger at the counter acted. The tray sailed through the air and hit the mugger at the table in the back. The man gave a grunt of pain and doubled forward. One of the girls at the table acted and hit the man over the head with a heavy knapsack. The man gave a moan of pain and collapsed, though she hit him again, just to be on the safe side.

Winston had not wasted any time. He had launched himself at the second man, the one standing by the door. The mugger had been a bit distracted by the entering couple and had no time to react when Winston crashed into him. Both men went to the ground and Winston, skills honed by his experience in Nam and his job as a Ghostbuster, disarmed him with ease. The man put up a short fight, nearly dislodging Winston, but the Ghostbuster hit him squarely in the face and the man fell unconscious.

"What's going on here?" the man of the couple demanded.

"Darling, it's a robbery!" his wife cried.

"Call the Cops," Winston instructed the owner of the coffee shop.

The man complied readily. Angie came over to Winston, who hauled the mugger to his feet. The man was just coming around. He shoved the shorter man over the counter and then looked for the weapon, which he had thrown aside. He discovered that the dark-clad man he knew from somewhere was holding the gun. He was securing it, taking the bullets out. His expert movements sparked another one of Winston's memories.

Again he was in Vietnam, but this time he was with another soldier, one he didn't know. The man had introduced himself as Captain Ray Davies. He didn't wear any rank insignias at all and it seemed he belonged to one of those undercover special agents. The agent gave them some orders to stay low and move fast, then they might get out of here alive. Winston remembered him now, quite clearly. The guy had met them in their temporary camp and had met with their commanding officer. Winston had never known who the guy was, only that he was someone important. They had met again three days later, in the middle of the jungle, evading enemy fire. Ray Davies had led them out of the immediate line of fire and then disappeared just like that. Winston had never found out who the man was.

Now he might have met him again. While they waited for the police to arrive Winston walked over to the guy he suspected was Ray Davies, and nodded at him.

"Good job," he said conversationally.

"You weren't that bad either," the stranger replied with a pleasant voice. "Good reflexes."

"Yours as well." Winston was now pretty sure this guy was Ray Davies. "Winston Zeddemore," he introduced himself.

"Ray Forrester," the man answered and smiled.

Winston frowned a bit. Not Davies. But somehow ... he couldn't shake the feeling that they knew each other. The way Forrester looked at him Winston suspected he knew him as well, but he didn't want to tell. The Ghostbuster decided for the frontal attack.

"Say, have we met before?"

Forrester looked oddly at him. Then he answered softly, "Not in this lifetime, my friend."

Winston understood and nodded. Vietnam was another world, another time and another place.

The police arrived quite quickly for this time of the year where everywhere crimes were committed. They arrested the two crooks and then took the statements of everyone, including Forrester. When the police was done, Forrester started to leave. Winston followed him outside and watched him as he walked over to a black car. It was Corvette Stingray. Forrester opened the door, then turned around and looked at Winston. He lifted two fingers to his temple, saluting Winston, then climbed into his car and drove off.

Winston smiled. Then he walked back into the coffee shop. He still had some presents to pick up and some more shopping to do.


End file.
